We’ve all heard the legendary motivational idiom “If at first you don’t succeed try, try and try again”; usually at times when things aren’t quite working out the way we had hoped. More often than not, this lack of success is not down to effort but rather experience. In these situations, an overwhelming desire to ‘give up’ can often take over, but in my opinion practice (and determination) really does make perfect.
Nowhere does this ring more true than when investing in an important piece of equipment for the practice, at which point all of us will go through the common stages of the buyer decision process:
1 – Recognition of the need
2 – The search for information
3 – Evaluation of alternatives
4 – Making a choice
5 – Post purchase evaluation
However, it’s not always plain sailing! So, I thought I’d enlighten you on my journey to finding the right pair of loupes and light and the lessons learnt along the way, so you don’t have to make the same mistakes as I did.
Spend time in your search
Like many dental professionals today, I was first introduced to loupes as an undergraduate, where I soon came to realise the benefits they could bring to my quality of work and comfort in daily practice. Based on this experience and seeing my colleagues rely on them I made the decision (stage 1) to purchase my first pair a couple of years after I qualified in 2001.
As with any new purchase, I was excited at the prospect of choosing my new apparatus and was eager to get started in my search (stage 2). Visiting a dental conference seemed the most logical place to start, it meant I could browse the aisles looking for the right supplier and manufacturer whilst getting an up-close look and feel for what was available to me. Unfortunately, it’s from here that my judgement of stage 3 (evaluation of alternatives) and even stage 4 (making a choice) of the process was let down.
I ended up meeting with a loupe manufacturer and was even measured up there and then on the stand, and left the conference looking forward to receiving my first ever pair of loupes. The loupes dutifully arrived a few weeks later but it wasn’t long before I thought to myself that they just didn’t feel right (stage 5). It was at this post-evaluation stage of the process that I realised they were of no use to me, so I gave up on them and decided to return them.
The truth of the matter was, it wasn’t me, it was them! I eventually found out they were actually meant for someone else – they had sent me entirely the wrong pair of loupes! Mistakes like this can happen but I wasn’t impressed, so despite their many apologies I decided that loupes were not for me (for the time being at least).
You get what you pay for
I soldiered on for a few more years without loupes, but I was becoming more aware that being short sighted and increasingly relying on my contact lenses and spectacles, I really should consider giving loupes another go. On the recommendation of a colleague, and at what seemed to be a very good price, I decided to approach another loupe company and ordered my second pair of loupes. The loupes looked very stylish and the company promised me a lot, but what they promised I eventually realised was not possible.
Within a short time, the screws on my loupes became loose and I had problems with the loupe mounted light – it was definitely a case of you get what you pay for! More worryingly were the problems I was having getting the right prescription for my loupes, depending on whether I was wearing my glasses or my contact lenses. I was assured this would not be a problem, but after a lengthy wait I was eventually told that they could not make the prescription clip frame I needed to suit my particular needs. With no help at all from their customer service, having spent a lot of time and money and trying to work with a pair of loupes that were slowly falling apart, I needed help – and fast.
To read part two of my loupes journey, click here.
To find out how you can improve your wellbeing with loupes, click here and we’ll be in touch with our recommended solutions.
Visit www.examvision.co.uk or contact Evident on Freephone 0808 1000 888.
Dr Rajan Sharma BDS MFDS RCS Eng is Principal Dentist at Evergreen Dental Centre and Castle Hill Clinic in Reading, Berkshire.
[…] To read part one of my loupes journey, click here. […]